Gonzales loses Dole but welcomes competitors

While Dole is emptying out its Gonzales salad processing facility, the net gain by others expanding operations is more than making up for the loss of the 45 jobs.

Tom Truszkowski, community development director for the city of Gonzales, confirmed Monday that Dole Fresh Vegetables provided no notification of the impending closure, and instead he learned of it when television reporters showed up at City Hall on Friday.

Dole spokesman Bill Goldfield said the closure is part of a global reorganization, but declined to elaborate. He estimated that the restructuring will cost fewer than 50 jobs at the the Gonzales facility and Dole’s Monterey offices.

While Dole could have out of courtesy informed city officials of the closing, it was not required to. The Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, administered through the U.S. Department of Labor, protects workers, their families, and communities by requiring most employers with 100 or more employees to provide notification 60 calendar days in advance of plant closings and mass layoffs.

Because Dole’s Gonzales plant had fewer than 100 employees, it was not required under law to notify workers or the city. Goldfield said the processing plant will be consolidated with its operations in Marina and that most of the employees were offered jobs at that site.

The purpose of WARN is to provide advance notice to give workers and their families some transition time to adjust to the impending loss of employment, to seek and obtain other jobs, and, if necessary, to enter skill training or retraining that will allow these workers to compete successfully in the job market.

But in the shifting marketplace of the fresh food sector, plants open, plants close and others step up and expand.

“It’s disappointing that Dole left, but I see it as an opportunity for someone else to establish a business in that facility,” Truszkowski said.

While Dole plans to leave the plant empty and keep it on its real estate rolls, other competitors are in an expansion mode, Truszkowski said.

Taylor Farms had a 56,000-square-foot processing plant in Gonzales, but recently expanded it by 80,000 square feet. Prior to the expansion, Taylor Farms employed roughly 300 workers in Gonzales, but now has a payroll there of an additional 250, Truszkowski said.

And Growers Express recently moved its processing plant from Salinas to Gonzales when it opened a 60,000-square-foot plant.

The Dole plant has been operational in Gonzales for decades. It is scheduled to shut down by the end of June.

Dennis L. Taylor covers agriculture for The Californian. Follow him on Twitter @taylor_salnews.